Chapter 18: Midterms
After lunch, during their free period, Katori, Bakugo, and Kirishima hear Mina and Kaminari excitedly discussing the practical exam and how they heard the rumor that they will be fighting robots as their opponents. They enthusiastically discuss how robotic opponents will be a walk in the park for them, and all they will need to do is complete the final exams.
"It shouldn't matter if it's robots or actual people," Bakugo begins, "Why are you morons so excited?"
"Hey, who are you calling a moron?" Kaminari stands up.
"Shut up!" Bakugo growls at him. "You need to learn how to control your Quirk! You got it?" he yells at them with gritted teeth. He turns from the two of them and towards the chairs in the class. "Hey, Deku," he begins, "I don't know what's goin' on with your power, but I saw the way you're using it now and I want you to know, it's seriously pissing me off," he warns him with narrowed eyes while Katori stands behind him, uncomfortable with how angry he is.
"I won't have another half-assed win like the festival," he says, eyes focused on Midoriya but she tightens her fists at this comment. "We will be getting individual scores in the upcoming finals—new rankings. So we'll all know exactly where we're standing. I'll show you how much better I am," he promises as his gaze turns. "And Todoroki, I'll kill you too," he promises the two-toned boy as he turns from them and slams the door behind him.
"It's been a while since I've seen him that worked up," Kirishima says scratching the back of his head.
Katori releases her fists and stomps out the door to catch up with the hot-headed asshole. "Bakugo!" she calls out to him in the empty hall.
His shoulders tense at her voice and he stops walking, but keeps his back to her. "You don't have to be an ass like that!" she calls out to him and he begins walking away from her as he doesn't care to hear what she has to say.
"You didn't even mention me in there," she continues and he stops again. "You're so ready to declare war with Midoriya and Todoroki, but you didn't even say anything about me," she says and he finally turns back to look at her burning eyes. "I got third place in the sports festival. I'm a force to be reckoned too, ya know," she tells him strongly. "Unlike you, I learned something in my internship; I've improved my Quirk and body with the help of Mr. Aizawa. And this I promise you," she begins strongly, "I am going to destroy you out there. Because I am better than you, and I am tired of being overlooked by you."
His eyes widen at the burning ferocity in her words, seeing the passion in her eyes and the truth of her words. She doesn't allow him time to respond to her, as she slings her backpack over her shoulder and turns on her heels from him.
The following day Katori sits at a diner that Kirishima texts her she is to meet up for their tutoring. She does a quick once over of the floor to notice that he has not arrived yet, so she takes a seat in a booth to wait for him. She digs into her backpack for her books after ordering a small iced coffee when she feels the table shake at someone roughly sitting across from her.
Katori looks up with a smile on her face, only for her lips to turn downwards into a frown when she noticed that it is not the red-haired Kirishima that joins her. She glares at the blonde that sits before her, arms crossed over his chest, lips turned downwards into a scowl, and brows furrowed as his eyes look elsewhere.
"What are you doing here, Bakugo?" she protests with narrowing eyes.
"That stupid haired loser is running late. He told me to meet him here," he grumbles with just as much dissatisfaction in his tone.
"Fantastic," she grits her teeth as she shakes her head and places the book on the table. The waitress arrives with her drink and Bakugo orders an espresso for himself.
They sit there for a moment in deafening silence as neither of them dare to look at the other who sits across from them. She looks down at her cup as the glass sweats from the cold contents of her drink. She rubs her thumb against the glass as she catches water droplets dripping from the cup, fixating on this so she does not have to acknowledge the boy sitting across from her.
She contemplates leaving, and allowing Bakugo to take over the tutoring for Kirishima, but she agreed that she would help him, and she would hate to turn against her word. She takes in a deep breath, flicking her wrist to look at her watch to see that he is now twenty minutes late.
Bakugo slams his hands on the table, shaking the unstable metal table and causing her heart to race as she jumps up in her seat to look at the hot-headed blonde. "You were right, alright!" he grumbles as he quickly moves his hands from the table back to crossed over his chest and looking out the window aimlessly.
She watches him as his eyes look out the window of the diner with a prominent line growing between his brows as he scowls. "I should've included you in my declaration of war," he mumbles so quietly that she barely catches it. "Yeah, you're a force to be reckoned with," he says louder as his head turns to look onto her.
His eyes slowly reach hers and she feels her heart flutter at his hard gaze. "I am going to be Number One, Copy-Paste," he promises her. His eyes drop from hers as he fiddles with his mug. "I've never overlooked you," he tells her quietly, as if he is embarrassed to admit so. His eyes land back on hers, able to look her in the eyes now as he says, "I'm ready to fight you again and see what you've learned during your internship, but only if you're gonna give it your all!"
Bakugo's eyes land back on his espresso, and Katori thinks for a moment, unsure how to respond to him. She opens her mouth to respond to him when she feels a body smash down next to her in the booth.
"Ah man I am so sorry!" Kirishima's thunderous voice crashes against the quiet of their table. "I missed the bus so I had to wait for the next one!" Katori shimmies to the end of the booth, keeping her eyes focused on the table as Bakugo does the same. "Wha'd I miss?" he asks with a wide smile as the two refuse to look at one another while a blush kisses Katori's cheeks at Bakugo's words.
"Nothing," she says hugging her arm closely. She clears her throat and grabs onto the books in front of her. "We were setting up a plan for your tutoring."
"I'm ready!" he announces.
"So, Kirishima, what part of the test would you like us to focus on?"
He smiles at her showing off his sharpened teeth. "You can call me Eijiro if you'd like," his smile reaches his eyes as he closes them in crescent moon shapes. "I've been calling you Katori for a while, so I don't mind if you don't!"
"Yeah, sure… Eijiro," she smiles at him. She turns to Bakugo who has a prominent scowl painted on his face. "You can call me Katori too," she informs the blonde.
"In your dreams, Copy-Paste," he rolls his eyes.
"Whatever you say, Kacchan," she smiles sheepishly at him.
"I'll kill you," Bakugo deadpans and she finds herself giggling at his response.
Katori turns her head away from him and looks onto Kirishima noticing that the red-head winks at the blonde. She tilts her head to the side, curious at the gesture, noticing that Bakugo rolls his eyes at this.
She narrows her eyes at the two of them, suddenly realizing that the bus comes every ten minutes, and Kirishima should have been there much earlier than he arrived. She can't help but think how convenient for Bakugo's apology was it that the red-haired boy was late, and the idea that they planned something together brings another uncontrollable blush to her cheeks.
After the three days of the written exams are concluded, Mr. Aizawa and the other UA faculty all sit together reviewing the students of Class 1A for their practical exams. Since the rise of villainous behavior of late, the teachers all agreed that having the students fighting robots did not seem practical this year as it would only stunt their learning. With the continuous threats the rising heroes are facing, it seems without question that the students should fight organic sources that combat each student's strength, weakness, and situation.
"As far as the written exam scores," Aizawa begins. "Momo Yaoyorozu and Katori scored with a flawless record," he says with a hint of pride for Katori, but keeps the smile to himself. "Iida scored second, Bakugo third, with Todoroki and Midoriya fourth," he explains to the rest of the teachers as he completes the roster for Class 1A.
"For the practical exam," he continues, "We will need to focus our efforts on pairing the students with not only a teacher that will challenge them, but a student to pair them with that will challenge their teamwork abilities. Cliques are developing amongst the students, and taking them from their comfort zone will give them a good glimpse into what working in the real world with other agencies is like."
"So, let's talk about the teams," Aizawa continues. "First, Todoroki. He's doing quite well, generally speaking, but relies too much on brute force. And Yaoyorozu is an all-arounder but lacks the ability to make spur of the moment decisions and apply them. Therefore, I'll erase their Quirks and take advantage of their weaknesses," he informs them and the teachers all agree with his assessment on the two.
"Next, I would like to bring attention to the fact that there are twenty-one students in Class 1A, meaning that we will have an extra head to accommodate for. That being said, I would like to suggest a team of three," Aizawa begins and the teachers listen in. "For Midoriya, Bakugo, and Katori; I am leaving them to you, All Might," he begins and the blonde hero looks over at him. "In this case I did not pair them based on their abilities, or classwork. I went with relationships," he informs them.
"Bakugo and Midoriya have a tenacious one to say the least, and their ability to work with one another hinges on your power over them. Additionally, I've added Katori into the mix as I not only trust you to be able to handle three students at once, but she also needs to work on her ability to control her composure in crumbling situations," he says looking around the room.
"As we all saw at the sports festival, Katori panicked and over exerted herself and her control with her emotions," Aizawa continues. "With a hot-head like Bakugo as her opponent, she was unable to control her actions and it resulted in a stunted growth with her confidence in her Quirk. This was also seen in her fight with Yaoyorozu. I took the girl on during the internships, but I'm confident that she will be hesitant to use her Quirk after her battles. I am putting her with you, All Might because she will have no other choice but to use her Quirk with you. Be sure that she and the others learn something."
All Might nods at the man, knowing that he will have to push the girl beyond her breaking point, and coach her to regain her composure. He only wonders now, how similar of a fighter she will be to her father.
Later that day, the students are gathered in the training arena with their hero costumes on. Katori stands next to Yaoyorozu and Mina as they stand before the teachers, who inform the students that they will be fighting them, and not robots. Mina and Kaminari visibly distress at this, but Katori is eager to see what this training will be like.
Mr. Aizawa begins telling the students that they will be partnering with each other, and each pairing has been strategically planned based on numerous factors the students need to improve on. Katori smiles at this, figuring that she will not be placed in another Yaoyorozu situation where she cannot fight to the best of her Quirk's ability, so she is eager to hear her placement, however, her heart drops when she is informed that she will be fighting All Might with Bakugo and Midoriya as her partners.
Katori glances over at Bakugo to notice that he is already watching her with a hard-pressed gaze as if looking to her like she was his opponent and not his partner. She reluctantly stands between him and Midoriya as the teachers discuss their exams and the rules in which will lead to their victory. They are to either capture the teacher using provided handcuffs, or they are to flee the teacher at a designated finish line that acts as a barrier for backup.
All Might explains that in order for the test to be fair to the students, the teachers will be wearing weights on their bodies to drag them down and drain their stamina, with which Bakugo scoffs at, not appreciating the need for a handicap to win the battle.
After announcing that Kirishima and Sato are the first to go, Aizawa says, "Those of you waiting their turn to fight can either watch the exams or try to strategize together as a team. It's your choice. That's all," he finishes, turning away from the students.
Katori turns to Bakugo, preparing herself to begin strategizing with the blonde, but he turns away from his teammates with tight shoulders. Katori sighs as she turns to Midoriya, who looks defeated. "He's not going to talk with us, is he?"
"Kacchan's stubborn like that," Midoriya chuckles as he scratches the back of his head. He glances up at her noticing the white goggles lifted onto her forehead. "Hey those look like Mr. Aizawa's goggles," he says pointing at her.
"Yeah," she smiles nodding firmly. "Mr. Aizawa gave them to me during my internship. I'm excited to use them today."
"You're looking more like a Hero," he smiles at her and she's taken aback by his comment, reminding herself that she's not a hero; that's not why she's here.
"Well, I guess we can come up with a plan, but knowing Bakugo, he will ruin any chance of it," she says turning the direction of the conversation. "So, we might just have to watch the others and see how these fights play out?" she suggests.
"That sounds great," he smiles at her.
They head to the observation room to see that they are the only ones there, figuring everyone else has a functional team dynamic and can speak with one another to formulate a plan, unlike theirs. They watch as Kirishima and Sato begin their attack in the cityscape with Cementoss.
"How do you think this will go?" she asks him, knowing that he has done extensive observation on everyone in the class and will be able to predict a viable outcome to the battle.
He shrugs, "It can go anyway. Both Kirishima and Sato have powerhouse Quirks, and will be able to fight Cementoss head-on, but his power over his Quirk is not as limited as theirs; they will both reach their max before he does," he says getting a dreadful disposition, "They won't be able to fight him with a direct frontal assault with their strength if they wish to beat him."
Katori turns to the screen to watch as the two do just that, and use their power Quirks to blast through the cement barriers that are placed before them. She notices that Cementoss does not have to move much to use his Quirk, and the time he will need to overexert himself will be much longer than the two students', despite his weighted handicap.
She observes as the two students begin overexerting themselves and her shoulders deflate at their wanning power. "What happens if they don't pass? Are they still going to be able to join us at the summer camp?" she asks, eyes fixated on the screen.
Midoriya watches too, noticing that they will not be able to capture their teacher. "Mr. Aizawa's pitted students against teachers that would have a hard time against. To pass, we'll have to recognize our weakness, and overcome them."
Katori groans as she sees Sato fall to his knees and Kirishima being engulfed by a dome of cement that entraps them. A siren blares and the broadcaster announces that the two have been knocked out, and have lost their battle. She swallows hard at the sight of them, fearing more of her fight with not only the Number One hero, but also the blonde hothead that refuses to speak to them.